Witches often visit cemeteries for ritual ingredients such as graveyard dirt, stones, and tree branches. These items are removed according to specific magickal rules, which vary by tradition. In Germany, cemeteries have strict rules about what gravestones can look like, and many cemeteries forbid toys on children’s graves. Burials, as they have been done in the United States for the past century, are accepted, but billions of coffins take place. Cemeteries serve as monuments to some of the most unusual rituals to ward off spirits and home to some of our darkest, most mysterious practices.
The news of a loved one’s death impacts everyone differently, and the aftermath takes unique forms worldwide as cultures celebrate the life and honor the death of individuals in ways often singular to their own. Using dirt can help anchor rituals, providing a tangible link to ancestral line, and allowing communication with ancestors, strengthening their line, or performing ancestral spells.
Attending a burial for the first time can be daunting, especially when faced with unfamiliar traditions or cultural practices. The funeral liturgy outside Mass is usually celebrated in the parish church, but may be celebrated in the home of the deceased, a funeral home, or in a cemetery chapel. Graves may be visited at any time, with some communities having customs of visiting on fast days and before holy days, especially at the thirty days and the year.
Mourning rituals provide solace in times of grief, and understanding their significance and creating meaningful rituals for journey through loss is essential. On the 40th day, relatives can visit the cemetery and remove funeral wreaths from the burial place.
📹 Etiquettes of visiting the graveyard – Assim al hakeem
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What not to do on Day of the Dead?
Día de Muertos is a Mexican holiday where families honor and celebrate their loved ones without wearing costumes or makeup. The tradition of wearing skull or Catrina makeup has evolved over the last decade, influenced by media, films, art, and cultural factors. Alebrijes, brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures, originated in Mexico City in the 1930s and were created by artist Pedro Linares. The Pixar film “Coco” depicted Alebrijes as spirit animals and linked them to the Day of the Dead, but they are not spirit animals and have no connection to the holiday outside the narrative.
Why is cremation not done at night?
In Hinduism, there are 16 rituals, including those associated with death and the afterlife. The presence of the sun (Surya) is of great importance during the final rituals of death, as evidenced by scriptural sources that indicate the human body is composed of five fundamental elements.
What is disrespectful to do to a grave?
It is recommended that visitors to cemeteries refrain from touching monuments or gravestones, including sitting on them, leaning against them, or engaging in gravestone rubbings. Such actions can potentially compromise the structural integrity of the stone, particularly in older graves. Many modern cemeteries have implemented regulations prohibiting such activities.
Should you go to a cemetery at night?
It is of the utmost importance to obtain authorization for nighttime visits to a cemetery, even in the event that the prospect may appear intimidating. It is of the utmost importance to adhere to the regulations set forth by the cemetery authorities and to refrain from any actions that might disrupt the peace and quiet of the premises.
Is it okay to bury someone at night?
Funeral ceremonies can be held at night, as there is no specific rule or restriction that dictates when a funeral should be held. This is often a personal preference or influenced by cultural or religious practices. Many American families hold funerals during the day to accommodate the internment and reception, but those who cremate or plan to skip internment often choose a nighttime funeral. Bereaved families may also choose a nighttime funeral for emotional reasons, as it can provide a distinctive and memorable experience for both the bereaved and attendees, creating a lasting impression and serving as a tribute to the deceased’s life and legacy.
What do people do while at the cemetery during Day of the Dead?
Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico is a significant event where families clean their loved ones’ graves and decorate them with marigold flowers, candles, pictures, and cherished items. Although melancholy by nature, graveside vigils can also be upbeat, with families gathering in the cemetery for stories and sing-alongs. Visiting a cemetery during this time can bring laughter and chatter, while others may experience solitude and peace. It is important to be respectful and not voyeuristic, and speaking a little Spanish can go a long way. It is essential to be respectful and not intrusive when visiting a cemetery during this time.
What are the rules of the graveyard?
It is imperative to maintain a respectful demeanor, refrain from using offensive language, and avoid excessive familiarity with strangers, as they may prefer solitude.
What do you pray before entering a cemetery?
The objective of the prayer is to recall the gift of the deceased, express gratitude for their life and love, and implore that they are now with us, enjoying the fullness of eternal life, and that they are with us in heaven.
Can you have a funeral in the afternoon?
Funerals can be held any day of the week, with most occurring in the morning or early afternoon. If you prefer a Saturday or Sunday, you can discuss the date and time options with your funeral director. If your browser made you think you were a bot, it could be due to your speed, disabled cookies, or a third-party plugin preventing JavaScript from running. To regain access, ensure cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page.
What is the best time to visit grave?
Many people visit graves in Japan on the anniversary of their family’s death, either in memory of the deceased or to pray for souls. The equinoctial week, Obon festival, and the end of the year are the most common grave visiting seasons in Japan. The year-end and New Year holidays are busy with overlapping events, and visitors can visit the grave on any date according to their convenience. However, on the 29th, there is a tendency to avoid visiting due to the pun that “bitter stains become double”. Visitors can visit the grave at their own discretion, but there are two cases where they may want to refrain from visiting the grave, depending on the time of day and location.
What activities do they not do at the cemetery?
The cemetery is accessible for visitors to explore and attend public ceremonies. However, certain activities, such as running, climbing, bicycling, engaging in sports, and picnicking, are not permitted on the premises. It is recommended that pets remain at home.
📹 Funeral Home Secrets They Don’t Want You To Know
What secret preparations go on once someone has died and their body is brought to the mortuary? The mortician embalms the …
there are a quite few errors in this article, coming from a morticians son, someone who is actually in this industry. Usually the Medical Examiner (autopsy specialist) does not take the time to wash hair because during the procedure they also remove the brain, which requires cutting into the skull, after this is done it’d be very hard to wash your hair especially because they leave the job of reattaching the skull cap and brain (along with arranging the organs that all get tossed in the abdominal cavity) to the embalmer. Also taking belongings from the dead (like a bus pass or money) is very illegal and frowned upon if the deceased has living family members. Second you typically would never get embalmed and cremated, it’s one or the other, for the main purpose of embalming is to preserve the body and keep it from rotting in the ground after burial, if the family wanted to view and cremate, a simple washing and bathing, packing of orpheus’s and setting of features is taken place, before the viewing not a full embalming although it is highly encouraged, because it does look better. (it would be really expensive to cremate and embalm as well.) When the family does choose to cremate, they would never be cremated in a full casket!! they are NOT made for that and there would be a lot of bolts, screws and handles to pick out of the remains (which who would want to do that?) caskets are heavy too not to mention and a lot are made out of metal which isn’t very flammable. Instead the body is placed in a cremation tray which is basically a piece of plywood with your body on it and a cardboard box over it to be ignited by the flame.
I just recently got a job as a body removal and will be helping at the funeral home, let’s just say everybody who went or is going to school for this type of career, does this because we want to help in some way. I want to help families at their lowest and decided to become a mortician. Though I’m starting out as someone who picks up the body, I’m still going to respect the loved one that passed and the family who is effected in the situation.
As a hospice nurse who regularly interacts with those in the funeral service and at the medical examiners office, thank you for what you do. This article misrepresented the field and the work that you all do to help families when they are grieving a loss. I’ve had so many interactions with people in the field and have never come across someone who didn’t have a profound respect for both the deceased and the families that they work with. Every field has a few bad apples, but this is definitely never been my experience over many years as a hospice nurse.
1. They do not use a saw for the first incision 2. They do not wash the body after an autopsy 3. Would NEVER steal from the deceased, everything is accounted for 4. Not all funeral homes have a freezer 5. At least in Canada it is mandatory to tell clients embalming is not necessary 6. Your whole embalming process is completely wrong, especially because you stated this person is an autopsy 7. Eyes don’t usually need to be glued 8. Workplace harassment seems like a thing in your funeral home 9. Crematory operators cannot open caskets 10. Usually takes 3-4 hours for a cremation to take place From: a funeral director
I worked in a funeral home once and one thing this article missed was how they cut up the back of the clothing and literally drape it on top of the body. When you see a dead person in the casket you can pretty much assume that the back of their clothes have been cut up because it’s not possible to dress them completely due to rigormortis
I paid to watch my dad go in the cremator. I was so worried they would just throw together whoever and give us someone else’s ashes, they explained the entire process and how the numbering works internationally as well as the respect taken, i watched his coffin go in and saw how clean it was before. Its done very respectfully, its the heart ache afterwards thats the difficult part. At least I know where my dad is now 🙏
Considering most people dont die of just old age I imagine this process is probably a lot more gross then we are even thinking it is. Imagine cutting open a deceased dead animal on the side of the road. A lot different than something from the butcher. Anyone who has this job is taking one for the team.
I’ve worked for a funeral home for 4 years now from pickup, assisting in the embalming process, all the way up to the end for services and burial. Some of this information is not accurate: 1. There are no “freezers”. The body is cold from refrigeration, but not frozen. 2. After an autopsy, the internal organs are not “repositioned,” but simply placed in a trash bag, then laid in the chest cavity before sowing up. 3. They completely left out the makeup part of preparation for a viewing after embalming and dressing. 4. Not every funeral home uses diapers. And lastly, 5. Caskets are reused if they are rental caskets.
it is unfortunately children the end is inevitable, so enjoy every second of your life in the right way so as not to regret it later at the wrong time, for those who want to live a little longer I suggest you donate your organs and stay alive for a longer time on earth and in most of the time making another child happy for the time they should deserve 😁👍🏼
Makes me glad I live in Sweden, where closed-coffin funerals are the default and you don’t have all that embalming stuff. I never got what’s the deal with embalming the dead if you aren’t going to keep the mummies around forever to be put on display like Lenin, and open casket funerals just seemed needlessly ghoulish to me. I want to remember my loved ones as they were when they were alive, I don’t want the last image I ever get to see of a loved one to be of their cold dead corpse.
My family has owned and operated multiple funeral homes since before I was born. My grandfather used to work late and listen to music on a old record player. Well one night I was there helping and my dad left to get something, I put a old record on and the corpse looked like it was smiling. My dad said sometimes temperature change or how the skin is pulled when handling them will make their faces do odd things. So when we got a elderly gentleman who was known for publicly shunning colored couples in town, I played 2Pac’s “I get around” and the face was frowning so hard he was grinning in disgust.
I worked in a funeral home and assisted a few embalming. And if anyone took any personal belongings of the deceased they were fired. That was number 1 rule No Taking Any Items unless specified by the family to do so like jewelry, or metal fillings like gold or silver, etc and give those to the family.
My lil 15 year old cousin was murdered june 10th 2021, yesterday was her open casket and i bawled my eyes out. as my aunt and i drove to the funeral what was sad and what made my stomach turn was the hurst that was carrying her was right behind us it hurt a lot and i got instant chills. than I saw her and it didnt even look like herself at all she looked older and gone. Then when we were leaving I saw her casket being carried back into the hurst and ready for cremation. A sad depressing process tbh and its horriying, tramautizing, and heartbreaking to see her body in person and to know that she was cremated.
I had my dad cremated in 2016 and when I got his remains there were curly wires that you were showing in them. In 1985 he had open heart surgery and they use those to close his ribs together and they were actually in the ashes sitting on top, but it’s funny my dad always talked about those things he would take my hand and put it on his chest and say ” son do you feel that that’s the wires they used to close my ribs.” so I was kind of weirded out.
When my sister died last Oct 2021, after 3 days of viewing she was cremated. The crematorium did not include the casket and asked us what to do on the casket. We just gave it to the Funeral Home. The body was put to the chamber including her dying clothes. After less than 2 hours, there are some bones not totally turned to ash. They were put in a grinder. The whole process was viewed by the family, thus some members don’t want to be cremated when they die due to “painful” process. Told them that dead person will no longer feel the pain. Personally, I want to be cremated when my times come but to autopsy, I don’t want it.
What I find interesting is they did an autopsy on his body so it would be different in the embalming process. Nothing to puncture. Also, my mother wanted to be cremated. My funeral director did not say she needed to be embalmed. Once the hospital released her, they took her body to the crematorium. Her funeral was her ashes in the urn. I have seen funeral homes not giving that option but it is there. No embalming necessary for direct cremation.
When I die before I leave this precious earth I would love to see everything that goes on with my earthly dead body and also I’m going to be checking up and in on all of my family members and love ones that are still alive on earth and let everybody know including my Beautiful Father and my Mother and to the rest of the family and everybody all around across the world it is okay to Cry
Interesting, by law, I need to tell my clients all of these details when preparing a contract for disposition, so nothing is a secret. I worked in the removal end of the funeral business for over 10 years and never once did we help ourselves to the belongings of the deceased. The incision in the chest for an autopsy is made with a scalpel… the bone saw ( not a rusty hacksaw) is used to cut through the ribs only. And if this article is in any way true to your understanding of the funeral industry, you have been dealing with the wrong funeral home!
“Body is put in a freezer” – How do you do a post-mortem on a frozen body? (The body goes into a refrigerator) I worked in a funeral home during my last two years in high school – the assertion that “They look on and laugh” is downright absurd. It might happen on very rare occasions in some funeral homes, but for a great percentage of employees, who consider this type of work a sacred trust, at some point the basics of the operation become routine. They don’t have time to stand around and make special commentary about every single person brought in. Completely asinine. I stopped perusal after this point.
Funeral homes have alot of secrets you wouldn’t believe at some of the stuff some of the funeral homes here in Kentucky has been caught doing and they try to keep it hushed hushed like cremating people who were supposed to be buried and taking people out of the coffins and putting them in wooden coffins to bury them then resale their coffins .
I will say that our local funeral home is amazing. When my dad died at the hospital, it took forever for them to release him. I had to wait for a phone call so i could tell them that No, they couldn’t have my 76 year old dad’s eyes or anything else for that matter. It was 10 pm before i finally got that call. Bridges and Cameron went straight to get him immediately, in the middle of the night. Once i got there the next morning, he was already embalmed. None of his organs were removed. I asked. He wasn’t cut on at all. I asked. He had been cut on enough. I couldn’t ask for any better treatment of my dad. They were amazing. I will never use anyone else.
Though this article had the potential to be very informative, it simply did not fulfil, not only misrepresenting the funeral industry, but also being disrespectful in the process.The funeral industry takes pride in their work, and is there to provide closure for family members in grief, with professionalism, and though I understand that it is meant to be entertaining, the funeral industry isn’t made up of people who treat you like a piece of meat, or disrespect your body, they are people who love their job, and treat your family members with respect as if they were their own.
In my country we don’t lose time when you die in your house… We bring a doctor to exam your body to insure the death is natural then he give us the bearing lessons after that we give you shower and we cover you with a white blanket then to the mosque and from the mosque to the grave with no koffen… And all of that take a few hours
My dad is a funeral director I’ll confirm if it’s fact or cap The embalming process is all facts and actually if your body is getting donated to the lab they fill it up with more fluid so u look swollen and red Stuffing cotton in your face – FACT They usually dress you in good looking clothes and put makeup on your face They also usually try getting your mouth to smile a tiny bit so it looks like your sleeping or having a good dream You do have a visitation Everything about getting cremated is a fact Btw most funeral directors are very sweet older people so they don’t make fun of you and stuff it’s just their job and they don’t think much of it
I’m the son of a mortician. Up until I was six years old, we lived inside of my father’s funeral home. All of the stuff on this article is true, and was vocabulary I was exposed to and surrounded with during my entire childhood. Quite a creepy childhood… we used to play hide and seek in the casket selection room, we would eat dinner while my dad was in the next room embalming a body, and I walked in on many autopsies by accident. I currently am typing this inside the office of the F.H as I spend many evenings studying here with our WiFi. I do not live in here anymore but my father continues to run our local funeral home to this day. I’d love to answer some questions if anyone has any.
I worked in a funeral directors for 18 months and it would be very difficult for someone to take something from a wallet as a proper trail is started from the very moment the body is collected, each time the body is moved the things are checked and logged so if anything went missing it would be obvious. Sometimes the family are there when the body is brought into care and the funeral director will check pockets and jewellery and give it straight back to the family so there is no finger pointing later on. Also the part where the man jumps out of the coffin, if anybody did do this they would not be in the business very long as working in the industry is not a joking matter and requires upmost respect and care for the deceased and their families.
I find death so disturbing. The part of your organs stopping, the fluids draining. Rigor mortis. leaving your body behind for someone else to care for. Knowing they’ll be cutting you open. Imagining my body being tossed in a box thrown underground or burned. My name on an urn or tombstone is eerie. I guess I struggle with knowing such horrible things will happen and I cant control it or help myself outta it
I’m actually a removal tech for mortuary pick up and I have to say at least when it comes to all the Funeral homes I work for we don’t steal anything. There are too many protacals in place making sure people will get caught if they do attempt to steal something. However I did work as a crime scene cleaner for awhile and it certainly happened a lot in that sphere of work.
Going to a funeral has destroyed me on how I feel about them. My wife and daughter passed away in 2013 and when I saw my wife after the funeral home fixed her up, she looked bloded but was still gorgeous. She looked peaceful. Which gave me some peace but ill never go to another one again. Thank God my mom and dad wants to be cremated and doesn’t care about a funeral.
My uncle passed away suddenly. We came from a country where funeral is very family-oriented which mean family member do some of body cleaning. It’s quite unsettling to not being able to see what’s going on behind the close door. But at least they allow use to load the body into the burner. Thank you for letting us know.
My folks own two funeral homes in northern Maine. Lived in one growing up, and picking up bodies was one of my first jobs. I can’t speak for everyplace, but we always showed the up most respect toward the deceased. No jokes like that were made. That’s not professional. That’s not how you behave. No to mention the autopsies we’re never done at the funeral home. Cause of death is not the funeral homes job. Our job is everything after that. Maybe some states differ. Idk
As a funeral director/ embalmer the medical examiner’s never sew up the Y incision nor do they wash your hair. And the embalming can be done right after the autopsy. Also an autopsy requires a 6 point injection and not just one. A trocar is inserted right above the belly button and if you have an autopsy you have to use a different aspirator. The eyes are never dried out, ever. However, eye caps are placed first. And we don’t drive the hearse everywhere. Watch batteries don’t explode but pacemakers do. The cardboard box is fine and it doesn’t make a bit of difference in cremation efficiency. It has to be a wooden casket or a combustible material because anything metal won’t reduce. This makes me sad because my industry gets a bad name and a stereotype that we’re all money hungry thieves. It’s vastly inaccurate.
Apprentice funeral director here, only a few minutes in, but the removal techs described in this article would be fired immediately and would never be able to get work in the funeral industry ever again. I understand that there are some degenerate examples of human trash that have abused their positions in the funeral industry, but a vast majority of us that are in the industry truly just want to help families in need.
I’m 46 years of life at 44 years of life I attended my very first funeral. At 23 years of life my son was laid to rest. I don’t see anywhere the rest of my days on earth that I’ll end my tears nor will my heart be mended but at least now I know what they did to my son from the hospital, funeral home and onto the crematory I’m absolutely devastated with an infinite broken heart. Thank you YOUTUBE for letting me share/comment
I am a licensed mortician. I always appreciate an informational article on the mortuary/funeral industry. However I wanted to point out some corrections in case you guys see this.. In the beginning of the article it shows that the body gets a thoracic and abdominal autopsy. After this the embalme would not be able to use the femoral artery to embalm the whole body because the arteries in the torso would all have been taken out… Also they wouldn’t be able to use a trocar since the organs had been removed… so there also wouldn’t be any suction to aspirate.. and would have been placed in a bag… the embalmer would instead put cavity fluid into the viscera bag to treat it. Also I have never seen or heard of an autopsy technician either a) cleaning the decedent off at the end of the autopsy or b) shampoo their hair???
Autopsies are not necessary in every case. Embalming and face cosmetics probably are. As for dressing the deceased, the funeral home allowed me to help with dressing my beloved Husband who passed in August 2020. 💔 My Husband was buried in a Plot that is for us both. I will be there in due course. The Funeral Home treated our Family with total respect and concern.
I used to work in a funeral home. This is pretty spot on. The worse part is selling the funeral packages to the bereaved. Most of the time they are strong and reserved. other times they are a wailing mess that you need to try to comfort and sometimes you cant help but also feel for the families of the deceased.
I was shocked to discover that most of what remains after cremation is not a small vase-sized amount of ash, but rather enough to fill a sandbag. Sad thing is most of what is not put into that earn, is disposed of. Soooo, make sure you ask the funeral home for ALL the ash when you have a loved one cremated.
A cremator told me they sometimes stuff trash in the body cavity where intestines were removed from, could be crumpled paper, could be beer cans, cigarette butts and whatever else was swept off the floor. He claimed to pick the unburned bits of such trash before putting the ashes in a box: that was in about 1986 on Long Island NY. Hope things are better but there was the story of the funeral home selling leg bones for medical use and leaving a PVC pipe in the dead guys pants leg!
I had a friend who Guarded a Funeral home on the Grave yard shift, He invited me an a couple of my friends over to have a few beers, & we asked him if he was afraid of the dead bodies, & He said, “No!!! HE EVEN SHOWED US A COUPLE OF fresh Bodies that were down in the Basement!! What an Experience, my friends & I were just Teenagers!!!
Funeral home worker here. I think the only thing in here that’s straight up factual is the part where you get dressed and you have cosmetics put on you after embalming. Even the way he describes the autopsy – the part that’s not even my job – is wrong to some degree. XD Ask an actual mortician if you want to know what exactly is happening to your loved one. There’s also a fun, helpful youtuber named Caitlin Doughty with the youtube handle “Ask a Mortician” if you want to learn about the death industry. She’s a bit biased and very pro-green burial, but she at least knows what she’s talking about and tells the truth about postmortem care.
Essentially, at the time of physical death, are you ready to continue your life with Jesus Christ in credible peace, love and joy or be separated from everything in bleak loneliness day after day for all eternity? Eternity is forever. Ask Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to you this day. Tomorrow may be too late.
I used to work at a funeral directors and later at a mortuary where I used to open up the deceased for the pathologist to examine, the one thing that you did miss is that the cranium has to be sawed open (after the scalp is reflexed over the face) to enable the brain to be removed to check the condition of the brain, aneurysm, tumor etc.
Okay some of this is dramatic. This was my job for a few years and now I am a death investigator. First of all we do not use a saw to cut the body. It is a scalpel, which is what this article shows when speaking about cutting out the organs. Then we do not sew the organs back in. They are placed in a hazmat bag and placed inside the body cavity. We do not steal items from the decedent. The items are all inventoried and placed in a box to be given to the funeral home so the family can retrieve the items. Also there are very few reasons to cut out someones tongue. Autopsies are a necessary evil when we do not know how someone has died. While I do not like doing them, because i do believe in the purity of keeping the body whole, I do understand that in this life there are time this must be done.
in high school my psychology class took a field trip to the funeral home and we witnessed everything that you are speaking of the only thing that caught me off guard and seems appalling to me is the fact that they use the whole casket when cremation is happening. This blew my mind. My mom was cremated now I’m not so satisfied with knowing her ashes may not even be her! Let’s face it they don’t clean out the insinuator every time I’m sure
As a 40+ year embalmer and funeral director I can say; entertaining, but not necessarily accurate. Don’t for a minute think that the animated presentation represents the reality of the business or industry as a whole. And if you want to know, simply ask. Full disclosure is part of an ethical, upstanding, quality type of firm, business or company assisting those in need.
The wonderful lady who cut my family’s hair was contracted out by a local funeral home to prepare the clients for their funeral. (She called them clients so I will too) She was in a room, alone, working on a client’s hair when suddenly the body next to her, in it’s casket, sat up. She remembered letting out this ghastly scream but she just froze. The mortician quickly came in, very calming told her, “Oh it happens all the time.” Needless to say she was mortified, for weeks.
I have made it CLEAR to my husband & kids that I DO NOT want to be buried. I cannot stand the thought of my body very slowly rotting in a box. Not to mention, it’s such a waste of $$. I want to be cremated. & I’ve also told them that they do not get to keep my ashes. They MUST spread them!! I don’t want a place where they can go mourn. I don’t want a jar of ashes kept in their home, to make them sad. My husband & my children know, VERY WELL, how much I love them 💕💕 They know that every single thing I’ve done has been for them. Once I’m gone, I’m gone. My body is nothing more than a bag for housing my soul. When my soul is in Heaven, the “bag” is just that, a bag.
With respect, I imagine author of this article has put a lot of different practices into one article in an effort to cover everything. I’m sure he’s or she is aware that each case is different, however I’m sure he’s aware that an autopsy on a cadaver or body cannot be embalmed, say an accident victim or one in prolonged decomposition. I have always wondered what happened to bodies at crematoriums too, as whether they waited till there were enough in order to conserve energy. Now at least I know.
Misinterpretation of what really happens. A few bad apples in a community that may have been reported does not represent the whole of the industry. Secondly, please speak to some real morticians, funeral directors and coroners and remake this article or take this article down. People already have enough anxiety about death, dying, grief and mortality in general. The last thing anyone needs is more insecurities due to misrepresentation of the facts.
There are several inaccuracies portrayed in this article, actually too many to mention. My brother is a mortician/funeral director, and he would cringe if he watched this article. First off, I am sure some shady people are in the industry. Still, overall, the people I know in the funeral service industry are above board professionals and would NEVER steal not even a penny from a deceased individual. People in the funeral business work very hard and are consummate professionals.
Please don’t take this article as gospel. There are morticians on YouTube that give better info than this. I remember what made me decide not to be embalmed; it was a book I read in college. I don’t remember the name, I’ve been out of college for decades, but it was very graphic and detailed. And it was just about what happens when there is no serious trauma to the body. Please do reliable research about funeral matters, and talk to your loved ones before you die, so you have the funeral you want.
I left the funeral business for a decade ago. It’s like the mafia. They are the most unethical people you will ever meet, at least here in the VA/DC/MD area. One company that owns 4 or 5 funeral homes in Virginia, recently had a meeting where everyone that had worked there more than 10 years was immediately laid off. They could re-apply for their old jobs at the starting salary. Another had an employee who faked having cancer and ran off with the funds that people donated to help.with his medical expenses. Then another owner of two funeral homes/cremation services raided the pre-need funds (funerals paid for in advance) and fled the state. Fortunately, he was caught but got off with a light sentence.
I think this depicts the duty of a funeral home in a very bad way, I have had friends who work in this business and it tends to be a generational business in the uk, passed down over the last 100 years from father to children and so on, My friend would be horrified to see this article, it is so wrong and the people who look after us when we have moved on only have the utmost respect for the profession they have undertaken to do. It is not a job it is truly a undertaking which is why they used to be called undertakers in the UK, for that reason they are treated with respect when you arrange for a funeral. Only a very few people are able to look after the dead. In spain where I now live the law here is that if you have died naturally then you are required to be cremated or buried within 3 days of death, when my mother died of cancer 10 years ago I was asked if I wanted to have the funeral that day, It was for me too fast a decision and I chose to wait the 3 days so that our family could join us from the UK. My mother here was treated with the utmost respect by the nurses in the hospital where she died, they dont stop treating you professionally just because you have died, you are washed and prepared and then passed to the funeral directors who come and collect the body and prepare it for the funeral. I stayed the last 7 days of my mothers life with her 24 hours a day in the hospice and saw everything that the nurses and doctors did to try and make her passing as peaceful and pain free as possible.
This is why no matter what, I am not to have anything removed from my body and nothing put in (embalming fluid)? That is my final wishes? I heard that is the most expensive cost of your funeral and is not necessary only if you are being viewed. I am to be put in a coffin lid sealed. As soon as I can get my hole dug and a Pastor in, I am to go to the cemetery for a private grave side service. No fussing with me just bury me I’m dead!